Van Helsing: Japan Assignment
by Shadowsage Hopesong
Summary: First movie fic, under revision. Van Helsing is sent to Japan for "training". Now, he has to face the many creatures of Japanese and Aisian legend... How will he react when he faces another "monster" with keys to his forgotten past?
1. Disclaimer and Prologue Arrival

Disclaimer: I do not own Hugh Jackman. If I did, I would be one VERY happy fangirl. I also do not own the character of, nor the royalties to, the movie Van Helsing. I also do not own the sources from which I got my notes on Japanese myths and superstitions- and if anyone who reads this finds a serious error in my usage of any of the myths, please notify me. I also do not own any of the songs whose credits I will list at the end of their respective chapters. I DO own the original works.  
  
Prologue- Arrival  
  
July 18, 1893  
  
Kyoto Harbor  
  
This was the farthest away from Rome he had ever been sent on an assignment that was for certain. Not that it meant he had to learn the language- he had a passing talent for picking up tongues rapidly if the need called for it. A fringe benefit, he presumed, of having no past. No, instead he was being sent to some mission somewhere near the coast of Japan for "training"- what Jinette thought would be a nice vacation for him. Oh- and he had been informed that he was to take orders from some "Father Kaman." Whoever that was. In other words, he was still a "monster" hunter. The local occult trash man. Lovely.  
  
To top off his trip, he was being smuggled in, not even officially a passenger. He wasn't even going to a "real" mission; it was a neutral ground place. A small plot of land on which three disparate religions shared housing. Shintaoism, which held most of the Japanese yet, Buddhism, which had the majority of the rest, and Christianity. According to his file of "necessary information": this place had a distinct border- and Father Kaman oversaw all of it. It was interesting to note that the safe house provided sanctuary to anyone and everyone- a sanctuary that ended at the wall.  
  
Oh _perfect_.  
  
Sir Gabriel Van Helsing was _NOT_ pleased.  
  
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There he was.  
  
The man Father Caman would send to kill her.  
  
She was so _tired_ of it all....  
  
_Oh_? What is this? THAT is _interesting_... He's not like the others... Not at all...   
  
Her long-honed sixth sense for this sort of thing kicked in, and she sighed to herself.   
  
He is a _good_ man.... not "holy" but that hardly matters. Perhaps, this time she would let the inevitable happen. After all, she resisted her end at the hands of the others usually because she could not stand to see her end at hands like theirs, at the end of souls like theirs, ones more likely than not to condemn her to Hell than even attempt to will her to Heaven, where the rest of her kind resided. Yes, perhaps she would let him win, and save the world her bad timing. At least then, her soul could fly... even if she did not dare to in daylight anymore.  
  
One year for every hundred, and she was the last. Once again, her kind saw an ending of days... this time, that of their own.  
  
She watched as Van Helsing greeted his guide, and then let her attention wander.  
  
People who hunted super-naturals tended to know they were being watched.  
  
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He stepped off the Revenant Vaticus with an audible sigh. He hoped Cardinal Jinette knew what he was doing....   
  
"Sir Van Helsing?"  
  
A monk in a familiar style of brown robes was looking around.  
  
He nodded, and met the monk, letting his gaze roam the crowd. Someone was watching him. No, not someone. Something.  
  
"I'm Van Helsing."  
  
The monk grinned, and began talking a mile a minute.  
  
"It's a good thing the monastery is in the country, you'd stick out terribly here. My name is Brother Himura Kasamoto. I'll take you to the mission house, and try to fill you in on where you'll be spending your next six months or so...."  
  
With a final glance around, he followed.  
  
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A good man in truth, then....... that is as it should be....  
  
She shadowed them, careful to stay well concealed. It was a skill she had picked up over the decades. A necessary one. 


	2. Chapter One Trains and Goodbyes

Henceforth notes-  
  
_translated Japanese_

_Note Some japanese left in for clarity, check the bottom of the page for a dictionary_

__  
  
:: = thoughts  
  
The train ride to Yokohama would have been very dull for Van Helsing if he did not still have the feeling of being watched by the same thing that had been observing him on the pier. His "guide," Himura-san, had been jabbering at him nonstop since the introductions... the monk was probably pleased to have a captive audience.  
  
"...And father Caman was telling me you would be able to help us wuth our ryu problem and that you specialize in hunting monsters it really is remarkable how one man can specialize in that field and live for more than a year how can you do it I mean they are horrendous demons with fangs and claws and you are stuck with having to use what a wooden stake or something as small as that you could nevr kill a ryu with it it would take gold to at least wound it after all they live in the dragon mountains and noone has been reported to see one and not admire its beauty and..."  
  
He had begun to tune the monk out hours ago. As his gaze wandered, he discovered something he should have noticed a long time ago. The little girl sitting across the hallway from him had not turned a page in her book in a long while. She was looking at him- or rather, the monk beside him.  
  
"Can I help you," he inquired.  
  
She shook her head.  
  
"No, sir... it;s just that not everyone knows the legends of the Dragon Mountains... and the people who do don;t usually talk about it."  
  
He blinked, his confusion evident.  
  
"Weren't you listening?"  
  
Van Helsing raised an eyebrow and pointed his thumb at the monk beside him- Himura was still unaware he had lost his audience's attention. The girl giggled, drawing the attention of the older girl who shared a bench with her. Slate-grey eyes left the window and turned to reguard the raven hair of her seat-partner. The former spoke in a fluid Japanese that gave Gabriel goosebumps. It was... too smoth, too beautiful... and somewhere in the back of his mind that remarked on things he did not remember... too familiar. There was a depth to the silken tones that did not belong to someone that young.  
  
::Familiar... but why would the voice of someone who I am certain I have never met before be familiar?::  
  
_"What has you laughing, Haname-chan?"  
_  
The girl nodded in Van Helsing's direction, and the grey gaze settled first (unsettlingly) on him, then on the monk beside him, who had yet to stop talking about obscure myths. She nodded, and her gaze returned to the window and the passcing scenery.  
  
_"It is impolite to state, little sister. Leave them be and enjoy your book. When we get back, you are welcome to stay for tea, if your parents will permit."  
_  
The little girl shook her head. Gabriel, an unwitting evesdropper, tried to tune them out, but instead found himself intrigued by the familiar but not voice of the apparently eighteen-year-old elder.  
  
_"Mother won't let me. You know that."_  
  
A soft chuckle.  
  
_"Then you are always welcome to visit, you know your company is enjoyed greatly."  
_  
Another headshake.  
  
_"Father says mother believes too much in the myths surrounding your house. Why does mother not like you very much?"_  
  
_"Do not worry about it, little one. Your mother is overly superstitious, even when there is evidence contrary to her beliefs."_  
  
The grey-eyed older... girl... looked fondly down at the younger one beside her, then with a soft sigh, she looked back out the window.  
  
Van Helsing;s eyebrow rose in curiosity before he finally managed to drag his attention to what the monk was talking about. IT was a unique phrase that drew his attention.  
  
"...they say the ryu is older than even Dracula and twice as hard to kill, some of the legends claim it tangled with the left hand of god or something like that some two hundred years or so ago-"  
  
"How do you kill it?"  
  
The monk blinked, as if surprised to have elicited a question.  
  
"I just told you, we don;t know. We do know that Holy water has some kind of effect on it, and that gold can at least wound it."  
  
"What does it look like?"  
  
::Ah yes, my two favorite questions. Go figure. Even a vacation is not a vacation.::  
  
Himura blinked.  
  
"One of our recent patients drew a sketch of it to show us. He said it was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Like a figure directly from the myths dating back to the Warring States Era. A thousand years ago. If there is one thing that holds true, particularly in this country, the more beautiful a monster is, the more deadly. This particular one is odd because unlike the rest, it actually has wings. Feathered ones at that."  
  
Van Helsing again nodded and let his gaze wander, once again he felt eyes on him when nobody was looking.  
  
He was distracted from his search by a young voice singing a rather sad song quietly, but clearly. It was the little girl, singing to the older one, in an obvious attemt to stop the other from brooding out the wondow.  
  
_"Forever watching time go by is lonely  
because of all the ones who come and go...  
  
Sleepily gazing out the nearby woindow  
despite the calm serenity is no way to live...  
  
As I learned this song'ed legend  
the maker of it lives on in the mists...  
  
Life in every breath every cup of tea  
every perfect cherry-blossom is as precious to the Dragons of lore...  
  
The Beloved of the dragons are left behind in time-  
For they are yet young as we grow old."  
_  
The older girl smiled at the younger one, drawn out of whatever mood she had been in, her eyes going distant as her voice softly replied in a beautifully done lullaby-tune, the low alto richh with a quiet unplaceable emotion. The younger girl curled up on the seat, snuggling against the older one like a little sister to an older one.  
  
_"...Sleep, little sister, sleep  
You are safe and sound  
Dream, little sister, dream  
As the world turns around..."_  
  
The older trailed off, her spoken song turning to a hummed melody as she let an arm curl protectively around the little raven-haired girl by her side. The younger girl had drifted to sleep during the song, leaning trustingly against the grey-eyed brunette, the older one Van Hellsing did not think was truly human.  
  
The train came to a halt a few hours later.  
  
Yokohama.  
  
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It was sunset as she gently handed her precious burden to another who valued it just as much. With a grateful smile, she turned to leave- but stopped, halted by the other's deep voice.  
  
_"You've changed."  
  
"One must if one is to not go insane over the passing years."  
  
"That is not what I mean. What happened, my friend? You carry a sadness in your eyes..."  
_  
A long pause, and a preeze blew feathers of her hair back, revealing one eye in profile as she turned her head.  
  
_"Sessha has seen the one they will send after her next. A good person. this time. Perhaps... perhaps this one will not fight quite so hard to survive the attacks. This is the seventh time over the past ten years... perhaps, now that the one sent for sessha is a man of good intent with a good heart, this one will let him hit his mark."  
  
"But Kaori-san...-"  
  
"Stop. Kaori is no more. You have seen the dangers of close association with this one when she is hunted. Is it not hwo we met, with you injured from simply being in the hunter's way? It is not a mistake that bears repeating. Keep the flute- it is a parting gift to your daughter. There is a small chest buried one pace out from the west side of the sakura tree in your backyard. In it is sessha's parting gift to you."  
_  
She began to walk away, a breeze blowing her loose-fitting long-sleeved kimono.  
  
"..._matte_..."  
  
She halted again at the plea in his voice. The woman bowed her head.  
  
_"What would you ask of me?"_  
  
He sighed.  
  
_"Don't dissappear. I do not want you walking out of our lives faster than you walked into them. You're too kind a person to survive alone. Stay.... please?"_  
  
Her shoulders slumped as if a great weight had just fallen on them.  
  
_"Goodbye. I'm sorry."  
_  
His eyes went wide.  
  
_"No! Wait, please! Stay-"_  
  
She finally turned and smiled sadly, a melencholy, acceptance, and a world-weariness in her silver eyes that glimmered softly in the now-twilight.  
  
_"This one will never forget your kindness."_  
  
A few minutes passed, and it got darker. Stars appeared overhead. He had trouble seeing her, now.  
  
"_Sayonara_. Sumimasen."  
  
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Van Helsing sighed as he entered his room at the monastary. He was to meet Father Kaman and get his first "training" class underway in the morning. Dawn, no less.  
  
Well, at least for once he would get a decent night;s sleep.  
  
IF he could sleep.  
  
He sighed, and re-read the note he had discovered in one of the pockets in his duster earlier that evening.  
  
Unknown Hunter-  
  
Can you kill an unarmed woman? I fear it is the only way to slay the dragon who lives in the lost temple you are sure to be sent to find. Her friends will not help you- but upon her request, they also will not stop you. You are welcome to try and kill the dragon that lives in what the locals will call the Temple of the Mists. Consider this a formal challangem if you have need of it. Good luck-  
  
You'll need it.  
  
Notes:   
  
Full text of the lullaby-  
  
Rest my friend, I am here  
Sleep peacefully  
Dream the plesant dreams of life  
You are safe now  
  
Little one don't cry  
Everything is all right  
I will always remember you  
You are in good care  
  
Count the lambs and sleep  
Let your dreams take you far  
Rest in peace my friend  
Your dreams are guarded now  
  
Sleep, little sister, sleep  
You are safe and sound  
Dream, little sister, dream  
As the world turns around 

Rest my friend, I am here  
Everything is all right  
Rest in peace, my friend  
As the world turns around

Dictionary:

Matte- wait!

Sayonara- Goodbye with the connotation of "I'll never see you again"

Sumimaisen- I'm very sorry, to someone in a higher station

Sessha- a third person for of "I", effectively places the world on a pedestal above the speaker. Archaic and little-used.


End file.
